Review of Shakugan no Shana: Season I

The moment I saw the Hunter with a Hair in Flames, Red Hot Eyes, and a body emitting a burning aura, in black coat, wielding a Katana - I was speechless and could only gazed by the beauty of it. This is what an anime should be about - an Ass Kicking Cute Girl! One of the strong elements of SnS is its presentation - An epic battle between the beings who eats human existence called the Guze no Tomogaras and the beings who restore balance, the Flame Haze. The story kicks off a brilliant start, introducing our main characters - namely Shana and Yuuji -and along the way other characters are eventually introduced.

The story reveals itself eventually in the story arcs; initially, it's fast paced, but slows in the middle and speeds up again in the later episodes.

The female lead Shana is probably one of my all time favorite characters. She's a tsundere, she is strong physically, mentally, and in will, also she loves to say "Urusai! Urusai! Urusai!" with that very cute facial expression and she loves melon pan - sweet! I also love how her character develops in the story.

As for Sakai Yuuji, he's has the generic main male protagonist personality, but not too lame. He just lacks the kicks. That's my initial reaction to him, but along the course of the series, his personally eventually gets a little better.

The supporting cast is quite solid, especially Alastor, Wilhelmina, and Yuuji's mother, they added more depth to the show. I wish Yoshida Kazumi's role could have been better (she's cute too!). As for the villains, they are nicely portrayed, especially the Master Throne Hecate.

The animation style of J.C. Staff for this series is quite adorable, at least for their character designs. The visual detail of the scenery is quite lacking, but the animation is smooth enough. The fight scenes are quite good, they're fast paced. Compared to the other shows of its time (2005), SnS is very top notch!

The music department is where the anime excels - The OP and ED themes were great, especially the first OP, "Hishoku no Sora" by Kawada Mami. The music by KOTOKO is also good. The BGMs is also good spicing up the scenes very well.

SnS is a good show and deserves all the hypes and fan adoration it gets. Who can't help but love our Female main character Shana. There were a few minor annoyances, but overall it's a very good show. Recommended!